how do you metal guys record?

hey,
im in a metal band who is currently recording, and i was wonderin how most of you record, be it DI or micing the cab, any tips would help alot. whatever you know about how to make the sound super fat would be great too.

Full disclosure, I'm a certified Fender technician working in a music store that carries Fender, Yamaha, and Ibanez products among others.

I work in Sonar or Pro Tools, so I don't usually have to worry about wasted tracks, I can bounce, edit, delete, whatever until my computer crashes, and that doesn't happen often. Unless you're using tape, any "extra" tracks you record but don't use can just be deleted or archived, and as such are not a waste IMO.

As for mics, it's such a subjective subject that I really couldn't give you any hard advice. I suggest using several at once because it cuts down on the number of takes necessary to get a good take, not because I actually use all, or sometimes any, of them in the final recording.

Usually, one mic in a good spot, plus some DI gets the job done. Expiriment with your mic selection and mic placement--not only is this really the only way to do it, but it helps you "learn" your microphones so that you get better at predicting how they'll work in a given situation. A '57 works well for some rigs, with some players, in some styles of music. In others, it doesn't work so well. So try all the ones you've got, in a lot of different positions, until you find what works for you. Hey, I consider that part of the fun of recording

EDIT: Oh yeah, I DO use my drummer's AKG d112 or Yamaha Subkick to record a bass occasionally, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

if i am using overdrive, would a DI work well. i have heard that DIing an overdrivin bass can sound petty crapy, If u think this is the case, should i record once micing overdrive, then goin back and doing second track clean an using the DI?

Full disclosure, I'm a certified Fender technician working in a music store that carries Fender, Yamaha, and Ibanez products among others.

I'd always advise someone to try a technique and find out for themselves-- someone else's experience with distortion and DI may vary vastly from yours, depending on the distortion unit, the DI, the board, settings, etc.

Personally, I wouldn't bother using a DI with a distortion unit--just plug the box into the board, roll off the board's high eq band, or patch it through a speaker emulator of some kind. Yes, this means there'll be impedance mismatching, but with the gain generated by the distortion unit, it shouldn't make much difference in the final outcome.

Even better, look up a technique called "re-amping." You can have your cake and eat it, too. Just do a google search, it might be what the doctor ordered.

what kind of mic would you use for micking the cab? would one bass drum mic and a sm 57 mix well? one on each speaker. or would i be wasting a track using the sm57?

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I did that same thing, with line out as well. Personally, it gave me the exact tone i was looking for. Fatness from the kick drum mic, speaker dynamics from the sm57, and some hi-fidelity from the line-out. the line-out signal was much lower than the others though (mainly because of the amount of high end that comes through).

But my tone is very midsy and growly, and typical metal tones are more mid-scooped... so i dunno (i do play in a metal band though).

ya im more into the growly tone now also, use to be more scooped, but i could never cut through like that. one last question, would u recomend doing pre recording EQing like on the amp and pedals, or should i make everything flat and do EQ stuff with the software after i recorded?

We just wrapped up recording some new tunes and I ended up recording both a direct signal (bass - DI box - board) and a mic, an REA-84 ribbon mic, placed about a foot off the port of the speaker cab to get the pristine tone of my Eden